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Garcia vs Corona [SEPARATE OPINION, PANGANIBAN, J.]

CONGRESSMAN ENRIQUE T. GARCIA, petitioner, vs. HON. RENATO C. CORONA, in his capacity as the Executive Secretary, HON. FRANCISCO VIRAY, in his capacity as the Secretary of Energy, CALTEX PHILIPPINES INC., PILIPINAS SHELL PETROLEUM CORP. and PETRON CORP., respondents.

G.R. No. 132451 | 1999-12-17

SEPARATE OPINION

PANGANIBAN, J.:

In essence, deregulation shifts the burden of price control from the government to the "market forces" in order (1) to eliminate government intervention that may "do more harm than good"1 [See public respondent's Memorandum, p. 19, citing Samuelson and Nordhaus, Economics, 1992 ed., p. 341.] and (2) to achieve a truly competitive market of fair prices.2 [§ 2, RA 8479.] It is also aimed at removing government abuse and corruption in price-setting. At bottom, deregulation is supposed to provide the best goods and services at the cheapest prices.

The policy, however, is not an...